Ethan G

Context: My fiance is Ugandan. In Uganda, they don't have family names. They have 2 names: one is registered as "Given Name" and one is registered as "Surname". When they say or write a name, the surname is always put first, followed by the given name. So let's say her given name is "Jane" and her surname is "Doe". In Uganda, they would refer to her as "Doe Jane". What I think I already understand: According to my research for the I-129F, I have to put the Surname "Doe" in the "Family Name (Last Name)" field, and "Jane" in the "Given Name (First Name)". I think that's clear enough. What I need advice on: For documents where I refer to her, I would naturally put "Doe Jane" because that's how they do it in Uganda and that's how she knows herself. But will that confuse the USCIS? So when we write her letter of intent to marry and when I document our evidence of meeting, should I refer to her in the customary way for Uganda that she's used to and Uganda is used to ("Doe Jane"), or should I refer to in the US way ("Jane Doe")? I don't want to cause USCIS to think I put her names wrong on the I-129F if my letter and other documents refer to her in reverse order to what they expect. So I'm thinking I should go with "Jane Doe" even though that's not natural for her Ugandan name.

Ok I guess I'll just keep it simple and put "Single" / "No" and not complicate it by over-explaining (a tendency of mine). It's hard to know how much info is too much info vs not enough. I just don't want to slow the process down, but I don't wanna spend a bunch of money on a lawyer when I think I can figure it out myself with research and forums like this. 🤷‍♂️

Yeah I will probably answer "Single" and "No", and then I can write a letter explaining the situation and include his death certificate. If they have questions, will they ask for more information, or will they simply deny the application and make me start over? I'm not sure how much preemptive info to include in the initial packet for the I-129F.

Background: My Ugandan fiance has 3 children from a previous relationship. She never legally married the man (i.e. no marriage certificate), but they were considered married by the village (it was a local custom type situation). He passed away while she was still pregnant with her last child. I want to make sure I fill the form out correctly. FYI: My Ugandan lawyer interviewed her and confirmed she was never legally married, only cohabitating. Question: Should I put Single or Widowed for her marital status? Should I put "Yes" or "No" for "Has your beneficiary ever been previously married?" I could go either way on this... Yes...she was informally married (not legally) and she has children to show for it (and he's on their birth certificates). The form doesn't seem to ask for a marriage certificate, so maybe USCIS doesn't care about the technical legal side. I can provide the death certificate of her previous partner, but without a marriage certificate, will that make sense to USCIS? Will they consider her widowed or never married? No...she wasn't legally married and there's no marriage certificate. However, USCIS may wonder about the children and what her relationship is to the father. I can show with a death certificate that he died and their relationship is over. Ultimately, I wonder if it will be confusing to USCIS if I put "Widowed" and answer "Yes" but have no marriage certificate to show, so I'm considering putting "Single" and "No" (which, according to my Ugandan lawyer, is the technical truth).